NR-SS LBT gap optimizations

ABSTRACT

New radio (NR) shared spectrum (NR-SS) listen before talk (LBT) gap optimizations are disclosed in which an indication, such as the preemption indicator, may provide an indication of a communications gap, in which preemptive communications may occur, to a user equipment (UE) currently engaged in communications, whether the preemptive communications are to another UE or network node or through different signal channels. The gap and preemptive communication may be measured in full symbol lengths, sub-symbol lengths, or interlaces. The communication gap may provide sufficient resources for the preempting node to adequately obtain the shared channel via listen before talk (LBT) procedures, and for the original UE to resume communications after the gap. The communication gap may also be optimally configured in order to provide both the UE and preempting node as much communication resources as possible within the scheduled communication opportunities.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/254,262, entitled, “NR-SS LBT GAP OPTIMIZATIONS,” filed on Jan. 22,2019, and claims the benefit of Indian Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 201841002680, entitled, “NR-SS LBT GAP OPTIMIZATIONS,” filed on Jan.23, 2018, both of which are expressly incorporated by reference hereinin their entirety.

FIELD

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wirelesscommunication systems, and more particularly, to new radio (NR) sharedspectrum (NR-SS) listen before talk (LBT) gap optimizations.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide variouscommunication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging,broadcast, and the like. These wireless networks may be multiple-accessnetworks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the availablenetwork resources. Such networks, which are usually multiple accessnetworks, support communications for multiple users by sharing theavailable network resources. One example of such a network is theUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The UTRAN is theradio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phonetechnology supported by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).Examples of multiple-access network formats include Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, OrthogonalFDMA (OFDMA) networks, and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks.

A wireless communication network may include a number of base stationsor node Bs that can support communication for a number of userequipments (UEs). A UE may communicate with a base station via downlinkand uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communicationlink from the base station to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link)refers to the communication link from the UE to the base station.

A base station may transmit data and control information on the downlinkto a UE and/or may receive data and control information on the uplinkfrom the UE. On the downlink, a transmission from the base station mayencounter interference due to transmissions from neighbor base stationsor from other wireless radio frequency (RF) transmitters. On the uplink,a transmission from the UE may encounter interference from uplinktransmissions of other UEs communicating with the neighbor base stationsor from other wireless RF transmitters. This interference may degradeperformance on both the downlink and uplink.

As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, thepossibilities of interference and congested networks grows with more UEsaccessing the long-range wireless communication networks and moreshort-range wireless systems being deployed in communities. Research anddevelopment continue to advance wireless technologies not only to meetthe growing demand for mobile broadband access, but to advance andenhance the user experience with mobile communications.

SUMMARY

In one aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication,includes receiving, at a UE, an indicator identifying a communicationgap preempting a current communication between the UE and a serving basestation, identifying, by the UE, a beginning, an end, and a length ofthe communication gap, puncturing, by the UE, the current communicationat the beginning of the communication gap, and resuming, by the UE, thecurrent communication after the length of the communication gap.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication includes receiving, by a UE, a preemptive grant forpreemptive communications with a serving base station during currentcommunications on a shared communication channel, wherein the preemptivegrant includes at least a sub-symbol offset for a beginning of thepreemptive communications, and a length of the preemptivecommunications, determining, by the UE, whether to perform a listenbefore talk (LBT) procedure on the shared communication channel, andparticipating, by the UE, in the preemptive communications according tothe preemptive grant.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wirelesscommunication includes receiving, by a UE, a preemptive grant forpreemptive downlink communications with a serving base station duringcurrent communications on a shared communication channel, attempting, bythe UE, to decode detected signals at each symbol boundary according toa plurality of decoding hypotheses, and receiving, at the UE thepreemptive downlink communications in response to successfully decodingthe detected signals.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communications includes means for receiving, at a UE, anindicator identifying a communication gap preempting a currentcommunication between the UE and a serving base station, means foridentifying, by the UE, a beginning, an end, and a length of thecommunication gap, means for puncturing, by the UE, the currentcommunication at the beginning of the communication gap, and means forresuming, by the UE, the current communication after the length of thecommunication gap.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communications includes means for receiving, by a UE, apreemptive grant for preemptive communications with a serving basestation during current communications on a shared communication channel,wherein the preemptive grant includes at least a sub-symbol offset for abeginning of the preemptive communications, and a length of thepreemptive communications, means for determining, by the UE, whether toperform a LBT procedure on the shared communication channel, and meansfor participating, by the UE, in the preemptive communications accordingto the preemptive grant.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communications includes means for receiving, by a UE, apreemptive grant for preemptive downlink communications with a servingbase station during current communications on a shared communicationchannel, means for attempting, by the UE, to decode detected signals ateach symbol boundary according to a plurality of decoding hypotheses,and means for receiving, at the UE the preemptive downlinkcommunications in response to successfully decoding the detectedsignals.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. Theprogram code further includes code to receive, at a UE, an indicatoridentifying a communication gap preempting a current communicationbetween the UE and a serving base station, code to identify, by the UE,a beginning, an end, and a length of the communication gap, code topuncture, by the UE, the current communication at the beginning of thecommunication gap, and code to resume, by the UE, the currentcommunication after the length of the communication gap.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. Theprogram code further includes code to receive, by a UE, a preemptivegrant for preemptive communications with a serving base station duringcurrent communications on a shared communication channel, wherein thepreemptive grant includes at least a sub-symbol offset for a beginningof the preemptive communications, and a length of the preemptivecommunications, code to determine, by the UE, whether to perform a LBTprocedure on the shared communication channel, and code to participate,by the UE, in the preemptive communications according to the preemptivegrant.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. Theprogram code further includes code to receive, by a UE, a preemptivegrant for preemptive downlink communications with a serving base stationduring current communications on a shared communication channel, code toattempt, by the UE, to decode detected signals at each symbol boundaryaccording to a plurality of decoding hypotheses, and code to receive, atthe UE the preemptive downlink communications in response tosuccessfully decoding the detected signals.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least oneprocessor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor isconfigured to receive, at a UE, an indicator identifying a communicationgap preempting a current communication between the UE and a serving basestation, to identify, by the UE, a beginning, an end, and a length ofthe communication gap, to puncture, by the UE, the current communicationat the beginning of the communication gap, and to resume, by the UE, thecurrent communication after the length of the communication gap.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least oneprocessor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor isconfigured to receive, by a UE, a preemptive grant for preemptivecommunications with a serving base station during current communicationson a shared communication channel, wherein the preemptive grant includesat least a sub-symbol offset for a beginning of the preemptivecommunications, and a length of the preemptive communications, todetermine, by the UE, whether to perform a LBT procedure on the sharedcommunication channel, and to participate, by the UE, in the preemptivecommunications according to the preemptive grant.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured forwireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least oneprocessor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor isconfigured to receive, by a UE, a preemptive grant for preemptivedownlink communications with a serving base station during currentcommunications on a shared communication channel, to attempt, by the UE,to decode detected signals at each symbol boundary according to aplurality of decoding hypotheses, and to receive, at the UE thepreemptive downlink communications in response to successfully decodingthe detected signals.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of examples according to the disclosure in order that thedetailed description that follows may be better understood. Additionalfeatures and advantages will be described hereinafter. The conceptionand specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the scope of the appended claims. Characteristics of theconcepts disclosed herein, both their organization and method ofoperation, together with associated advantages will be better understoodfrom the following description when considered in connection with theaccompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purpose ofillustration and description, and not as a definition of the limits ofthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the presentdisclosure may be realized by reference to the following drawings. Inthe appended figures, similar components or features may have the samereference label. Further, various components of the same type may bedistinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating details of a wirelesscommunication system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a design of a base station and aUE configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication systemincluding base stations that use directional wireless beams.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed toimplement one aspect of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are block diagrams illustrating a base station, UE1, andUE2, configured according to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed toimplement one aspect of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are block diagrams illustrating base station, UE1, andUE2 configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are block diagrams illustrating base station, UE1, andUE2 configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed toimplement one aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating base station, UE1, and UE2configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 11A and 11B are block diagrams illustrating base station, UE1, andUE2 configured according to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example UE configuredaccording to aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with theappended drawings, is intended as a description of variousconfigurations and is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.Rather, the detailed description includes specific details for thepurpose of providing a thorough understanding of the inventive subjectmatter. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that thesespecific details are not required in every case and that, in someinstances, well-known structures and components are shown in blockdiagram form for clarity of presentation.

This disclosure relates generally to providing or participating inauthorized shared access between two or more wireless communicationssystems, also referred to as wireless communications networks. Invarious embodiments, the techniques and apparatus may be used forwireless communication networks such as code division multiple access(CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks,frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA(OFDMA) networks, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks,GSM networks, 5^(th) Generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks, as wellas other communications networks. As described herein, the terms“networks” and “systems” may be used interchangeably.

An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as evolved UTRA(E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM and thelike. UTRA, E-UTRA, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)are part of universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). Inparticular, long term evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that usesE-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documentsprovided from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project”(3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organizationnamed “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). These variousradio technologies and standards are known or are being developed. Forexample, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is acollaboration between groups of telecommunications associations thataims to define a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phonespecification. 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project whichwas aimed at improving the universal mobile telecommunications system(UMTS) mobile phone standard. The 3GPP may define specifications for thenext generation of mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices.The present disclosure is concerned with the evolution of wirelesstechnologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR, and beyond with shared access towireless spectrum between networks using a collection of new anddifferent radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

In particular, 5G networks contemplate diverse deployments, diversespectrum, and diverse services and devices that may be implemented usingan OFDM-based unified, air interface. In order to achieve these goals,further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are considered in addition todevelopment of the new radio technology for 5G NR networks. The 5G NRwill be capable of scaling to provide coverage (1) to a massive Internetof things (IoTs) with an ultra-high density (e.g., ˜1M nodes/km²),ultra-low complexity (e.g., ˜10 s of bits/sec), ultra-low energy (e.g.,˜10+ years of battery life), and deep coverage with the capability toreach challenging locations; (2) including mission-critical control withstrong security to safeguard sensitive personal, financial, orclassified information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ˜99.9999%reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ˜1 ms), and users with wideranges of mobility or lack thereof, and (3) with enhanced mobilebroadband including extreme high capacity (e.g., ˜10 Tbps/km²), extremedata rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rate, 100+ Mbps user experienced rates),and deep awareness with advanced discovery and optimizations.

The 5G NR may be implemented to use optimized OFDM-based waveforms withscalable numerology and transmission time interval (TTI); having acommon, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services andfeatures with a dynamic, low-latency time division duplex(TDD)/frequency division duplex (FDD) design; and with advanced wirelesstechnologies, such as massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO),robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmissions, advanced channel coding,and device-centric mobility. Scalability of the numerology in 5G NR,with scaling of subcarrier spacing, may efficiently address operatingdiverse services across diverse spectrum and diverse deployments. Forexample, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of less than3 GHz FDD/TDD implementations, subcarrier spacing may occur with 15 kHz,for example over 1, 5, 10, 20 MHz, and the like bandwidth. For othervarious outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than3 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with 30 kHz over 80/100 MHzbandwidth. For other various indoor wideband implementations, using aTDD over the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, the subcarrierspacing may occur with 60 kHz over a 160 MHz bandwidth. Finally, forvarious deployments transmitting with mmWave components at a TDD of 28GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with 120 kHz over a 500 MHz bandwidth.

The scalable numerology of the 5G NR facilitates scalable TTI fordiverse latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example,shorter TTI may be used for low latency and high reliability, whilelonger TTI may be used for higher spectral efficiency. The efficientmultiplexing of long and short TTIs to allow transmissions to start onsymbol boundaries. 5G NR also contemplates a self-contained integratedsubframe design with uplink/downlink scheduling information, data, andacknowledgement in the same subframe. The self-contained integratedsubframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-basedshared spectrum, adaptive uplink/downlink that may be flexiblyconfigured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink anddownlink to meet the current traffic needs.

Various other aspects and features of the disclosure are furtherdescribed below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein may beembodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure,function, or both being disclosed herein is merely representative andnot limiting. Based on the teachings herein one of an ordinary level ofskill in the art should appreciate that an aspect disclosed herein maybe implemented independently of any other aspects and that two or moreof these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, anapparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using anynumber of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, such an apparatusmay be implemented or such a method may be practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition toor other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. For example,a method may be implemented as part of a system, device, apparatus,and/or as instructions stored on a computer readable medium forexecution on a processor or computer. Furthermore, an aspect maycomprise at least one element of a claim.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating 5G network 100 including variousbase stations and UEs configured according to aspects of the presentdisclosure. The 5G network 100 includes a number of base stations 105and other network entities. A base station may be a station thatcommunicates with the UEs and may also be referred to as an evolved nodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (gNB), an access point, and the like.Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for aparticular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to thisparticular geographic coverage area of a base station and/or a basestation subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context inwhich the term is used.

A base station may provide communication coverage for a macro cell or asmall cell, such as a pico cell or a femto cell, and/or other types ofcell. A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area(e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted accessby UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider. A smallcell, such as a pico cell, would generally cover a relatively smallergeographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with servicesubscriptions with the network provider. A small cell, such as a femtocell, would also generally cover a relatively small geographic area(e.g., a home) and, in addition to unrestricted access, may also providerestricted access by UEs having an association with the femto cell(e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in thehome, and the like). A base station for a macro cell may be referred toas a macro base station. A base station for a small cell may be referredto as a small cell base station, a pico base station, a femto basestation or a home base station. In the example shown in FIG. 1 , thebase stations 105 d and 105 e are regular macro base stations, whilebase stations 105 a-105 c are macro base stations enabled with one of 3dimension (3D), full dimension (FD), or massive MIMO. Base stations 105a-105 c take advantage of their higher dimension MIMO capabilities toexploit 3D beamforming in both elevation and azimuth beamforming toincrease coverage and capacity. Base station 105 f is a small cell basestation which may be a home node or portable access point. A basestation may support one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four, and thelike) cells.

The 5G network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation.For synchronous operation, the base stations may have similar frametiming, and transmissions from different base stations may beapproximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the basestations may have different frame timing, and transmissions fromdifferent base stations may not be aligned in time.

The UEs 115 are dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and eachUE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be referred to as aterminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, or the like. AUE may be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), awireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, atablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless localloop (WLL) station, or the like. In one aspect, a UE may be a devicethat includes a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC). In anotheraspect, a UE may be a device that does not include a UICC. In someaspects, UEs that do not include UICCs may also be referred to asinternet of everything (IoE) devices. UEs 115 a-115 d are examples ofmobile smart phone-type devices accessing 5G network 100 A UE may alsobe a machine specifically configured for connected communication,including machine type communication (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC),narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and the like. UEs 115 e-115 k are examples ofvarious machines configured for communication that access 5G network100. A UE may be able to communicate with any type of the base stations,whether macro base station, small cell, or the like. In FIG. 1 , alightning bolt (e.g., communication links) indicates wirelesstransmissions between a UE and a serving base station, which is a basestation designated to serve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink, ordesired transmission between base stations, and backhaul transmissionsbetween base stations.

In operation at 5G network 100, base stations 105 a-105 c serve UEs 115a and 115 b using 3D beamforming and coordinated spatial techniques,such as coordinated multipoint (CoMP) or multi-connectivity. Macro basestation 105 d performs backhaul communications with base stations 105a-105 c, as well as small cell, base station 105 f. Macro base station105 d also transmits multicast services which are subscribed to andreceived by UEs 115 c and 115 d. Such multicast services may includemobile television or stream video, or may include other services forproviding community information, such as weather emergencies or alerts,such as Amber alerts or gray alerts.

5G network 100 also support mission critical communications withultra-reliable and redundant links for mission critical devices, such UE115 e, which is a drone. Redundant communication links with UE 115 einclude from macro base stations 105 d and 105 e, as well as small cellbase station 105 f. Other machine type devices, such as UE 115 f(thermometer), UE 115 g (smart meter), and UE 115 h (wearable device)may communicate through 5G network 100 either directly with basestations, such as small cell base station 105 f, and macro base station105 e, or in multi-hop configurations by communicating with another userdevice which relays its information to the network, such as UE 115 fcommunicating temperature measurement information to the smart meter, UE115 g, which is then reported to the network through small cell basestation 105 f. 5G network 100 may also provide additional networkefficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD/FDD communications, such asin a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) mesh network between UEs 115 i-115 kcommunicating with macro base station 105 e.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a design of a base station 105 and a UE115, which may be one of the base station and one of the UEs in FIG. 1 .At the base station 105, a transmit processor 220 may receive data froma data source 212 and control information from a controller/processor240. The control information may be for the PBCH, PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH,EPDCCH, MPDCCH etc. The data may be for the PDSCH, etc. The transmitprocessor 220 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data andcontrol information to obtain data symbols and control symbols,respectively. The transmit processor 220 may also generate referencesymbols, e.g., for the PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signal. Atransmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 mayperform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, thecontrol symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and mayprovide output symbol streams to the modulators (MODs) 232 a through 232t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective output symbol stream(e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, andupconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal.Downlink signals from modulators 232 a through 232 t may be transmittedvia the antennas 234 a through 234 t, respectively.

At the UE 115, the antennas 252 a through 252 r may receive the downlinksignals from the base station 105 and may provide received signals tothe demodulators (DEMODs) 254 a through 254 r, respectively. Eachdemodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, anddigitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Eachdemodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM,etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtainreceived symbols from all the demodulators 254 a through 254 r, performMIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and providedetected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate,deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data forthe UE 115 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control informationto a controller/processor 280.

On the uplink, at the UE 115, a transmit processor 264 may receive andprocess data (e.g., for the PUSCH) from a data source 262 and controlinformation (e.g., for the PUCCH) from the controller/processor 280. Thetransmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for areference signal. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may beprecoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed bythe modulators 254 a through 254 r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), andtransmitted to the base station 105. At the base station 105, the uplinksignals from the UE 115 may be received by the antennas 234, processedby the demodulators 232, detected by a MIMO detector 236 if applicable,and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded dataand control information sent by the UE 115. The processor 238 mayprovide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded controlinformation to the controller/processor 240.

The controllers/processors 240 and 280 may direct the operation at thebase station 105 and the UE 115, respectively. The controller/processor240 and/or other processors and modules at the base station 105 mayperform or direct the execution of various processes for the techniquesdescribed herein. The controllers/processor 280 and/or other processorsand modules at the UE 115 may also perform or direct the execution ofthe functional blocks illustrated in FIGS. 4, 6, and 9 , and/or otherprocesses for the techniques described herein. The memories 242 and 282may store data and program codes for the base station 105 and the UE115, respectively. A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for datatransmission on the downlink and/or uplink.

Wireless communications systems operated by different network operatingentities (e.g., network operators) may share spectrum. In someinstances, a network operating entity may be configured to use anentirety of a designated shared spectrum for at least a period of timebefore another network operating entity uses the entirety of thedesignated shared spectrum for a different period of time. Thus, inorder to allow network operating entities use of the full designatedshared spectrum, and in order to mitigate interfering communicationsbetween the different network operating entities, certain resources(e.g., time) may be partitioned and allocated to the different networkoperating entities for certain types of communication.

For example, a network operating entity may be allocated certain timeresources reserved for exclusive communication by the network operatingentity using the entirety of the shared spectrum. The network operatingentity may also be allocated other time resources where the entity isgiven priority over other network operating entities to communicateusing the shared spectrum. These time resources, prioritized for use bythe network operating entity, may be utilized by other network operatingentities on an opportunistic basis if the prioritized network operatingentity does not utilize the resources. Additional time resources may beallocated for any network operator to use on an opportunistic basis.

Access to the shared spectrum and the arbitration of time resourcesamong different network operating entities may be centrally controlledby a separate entity, autonomously determined by a predefinedarbitration scheme, or dynamically determined based on interactionsbetween wireless nodes of the network operators.

In some cases, UE 115 and base station 105 may operate in a shared radiofrequency spectrum band, which may include licensed or unlicensed (e.g.,contention-based) frequency spectrum. In an unlicensed frequency portionof the shared radio frequency spectrum band, UEs 115 or base stations105 may traditionally perform a medium-sensing procedure to contend foraccess to the frequency spectrum. For example, UE 115 or base station105 may perform a listen before talk (LBT) procedure such as a clearchannel assessment (CCA) prior to communicating in order to determinewhether the shared channel is available. A CCA may include an energydetection procedure to determine whether there are any other activetransmissions. For example, a device may infer that a change in areceived signal strength indicator (RSSI) of a power meter indicatesthat a channel is occupied. Specifically, signal power that isconcentrated in a certain bandwidth and exceeds a predetermined noisefloor may indicate another wireless transmitter. A CCA also may includedetection of specific sequences that indicate use of the channel. Forexample, another device may transmit a specific preamble prior totransmitting a data sequence. In some cases, an LBT procedure mayinclude a wireless node adjusting its own backoff window based on theamount of energy detected on a channel and/or theacknowledge/negative-acknowledge (ACK/NACK) feedback for its owntransmitted packets as a proxy for collisions.

Use of a medium-sensing procedure to contend for access to an unlicensedshared spectrum may result in communication inefficiencies. This may beparticularly evident when multiple network operating entities (e.g.,network operators) are attempting to access a shared resource. In 5Gnetwork 100, base stations 105 and UEs 115 may be operated by the sameor different network operating entities. In some examples, an individualbase station 105 or UE 115 may be operated by more than one networkoperating entity. In other examples, each base station 105 and UE 115may be operated by a single network operating entity. Requiring eachbase station 105 and UE 115 of different network operating entities tocontend for shared resources may result in increased signaling overheadand communication latency.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a timing diagram 300 for coordinatedresource partitioning. The timing diagram 300 includes a superframe 305,which may represent a fixed duration of time (e.g., 20 ms). Superframe305 may be repeated for a given communication session and may be used bya wireless system such as 5G network 100 described with reference toFIG. 1 . The superframe 305 may be divided into intervals such as anacquisition interval (A-INT) 310 and an arbitration interval 315. Asdescribed in more detail below, the A-INT 310 and arbitration interval315 may be subdivided into sub-intervals, designated for certainresource types, and allocated to different network operating entities tofacilitate coordinated communications between the different networkoperating entities. For example, the arbitration interval 315 may bedivided into a plurality of sub-intervals 320. Also, the superframe 305may be further divided into a plurality of subframes 325 with a fixedduration (e.g., 1 ms). While timing diagram 300 illustrates threedifferent network operating entities (e.g., Operator A, Operator B,Operator C), the number of network operating entities using thesuperframe 305 for coordinated communications may be greater than orfewer than the number illustrated in timing diagram 300.

The A-INT 310 may be a dedicated interval of the superframe 305 that isreserved for exclusive communications by the network operating entities.In some examples, each network operating entity may be allocated certainresources within the A-INT 310 for exclusive communications. Forexample, resources 330-a may be reserved for exclusive communications byOperator A, such as through base station 105 a, resources 330-b may bereserved for exclusive communications by Operator B, such as throughbase station 105 b, and resources 330-c may be reserved for exclusivecommunications by Operator C, such as through base station 105 c. Sincethe resources 330-a are reserved for exclusive communications byOperator A, neither Operator B nor Operator C can communicate duringresources 330-a, even if Operator A chooses not to communicate duringthose resources. That is, access to exclusive resources is limited tothe designated network operator. Similar restrictions apply to resources330-b for Operator B and resources 330-c for Operator C. The wirelessnodes of Operator A (e.g, UEs 115 or base stations 105) may communicateany information desired during their exclusive resources 330-a, such ascontrol information or data.

When communicating over an exclusive resource, a network operatingentity does not need to perform any medium sensing procedures (e.g.,listen-before-talk (LBT) or clear channel assessment (CCA)) because thenetwork operating entity knows that the resources are reserved. Becauseonly the designated network operating entity may communicate overexclusive resources, there may be a reduced likelihood of interferingcommunications as compared to relying on medium sensing techniques alone(e.g., no hidden node problem). In some examples, the A-INT 310 is usedto transmit control information, such as synchronization signals (e.g.,SYNC signals), system information (e.g., system information blocks(SIBs)), paging information (e.g., physical broadcast channel (PBCH)messages), or random access information (e.g., random access channel(RACH) signals). In some examples, all of the wireless nodes associatedwith a network operating entity may transmit at the same time duringtheir exclusive resources.

In some examples, resources may be classified as prioritized for certainnetwork operating entities. Resources that are assigned with priorityfor a certain network operating entity may be referred to as aguaranteed interval (G-INT) for that network operating entity. Theinterval of resources used by the network operating entity during theG-INT may be referred to as a prioritized sub-interval. For example,resources 335-a may be prioritized for use by Operator A and maytherefore be referred to as a G-INT for Operator A (e.g., G-INT-OpA).Similarly, resources 335-b may be prioritized for Operator B, resources335-c may be prioritized for Operator C, resources 335-d may beprioritized for Operator A, resources 335-e may be prioritized forOperator B, and resources 335-f may be prioritized for operator C.

The various G-INT resources illustrated in FIG. 3 appear to be staggeredto illustrate their association with their respective network operatingentities, but these resources may all be on the same frequencybandwidth. Thus, if viewed along a time-frequency grid, the G-INTresources may appear as a contiguous line within the superframe 305.This partitioning of data may be an example of time divisionmultiplexing (TDM). Also, when resources appear in the same sub-interval(e.g., resources 340-a and resources 335-b), these resources representthe same time resources with respect to the superframe 305 (e.g., theresources occupy the same sub-interval 320), but the resources areseparately designated to illustrate that the same time resources can beclassified differently for different operators.

When resources are assigned with priority for a certain networkoperating entity (e.g., a G-INT), that network operating entity maycommunicate using those resources without having to wait or perform anymedium sensing procedures (e.g., LBT or CCA). For example, the wirelessnodes of Operator A are free to communicate any data or controlinformation during resources 335-a without interference from thewireless nodes of Operator B or Operator C.

A network operating entity may additionally signal to another operatorthat it intends to use a particular G-INT. For example, referring toresources 335-a, Operator A may signal to Operator B and Operator C thatit intends to use resources 335-a. Such signaling may be referred to asan activity indication. Moreover, since Operator A has priority overresources 335-a, Operator A may be considered as a higher priorityoperator than both Operator B and Operator C. However, as discussedabove, Operator A does not have to send signaling to the other networkoperating entities to ensure interference-free transmission duringresources 335-a because the resources 335-a are assigned with priorityto Operator A.

Similarly, a network operating entity may signal to another networkoperating entity that it intends not to use a particular G-INT. Thissignaling may also be referred to as an activity indication. Forexample, referring to resources 335-b, Operator B may signal to OperatorA and Operator C that it intends not to use the resources 335-b forcommunication, even though the resources are assigned with priority toOperator B. With reference to resources 335-b, Operator B may beconsidered a higher priority network operating entity than Operator Aand Operator C. In such cases, Operators A and C may attempt to useresources of sub-interval 320 on an opportunistic basis. Thus, from theperspective of Operator A, the sub-interval 320 that contains resources335-b may be considered an opportunistic interval (O-INT) for Operator A(e.g., O-INT-OpA). For illustrative purposes, resources 340-a mayrepresent the O-INT for Operator A. Also, from the perspective ofOperator C, the same sub-interval 320 may represent an O-INT forOperator C with corresponding resources 340-b. Resources 340-a, 335-b,and 340-b all represent the same time resources (e.g., a particularsub-interval 320), but are identified separately to signify that thesame resources may be considered as a G-INT for some network operatingentities and yet as an O-INT for others.

To utilize resources on an opportunistic basis, Operator A and OperatorC may perform medium-sensing procedures to check for communications on aparticular channel before transmitting data. For example, if Operator Bdecides not to use resources 335-b (e.g., G-INT-OpB), then Operator Amay use those same resources (e.g., represented by resources 340-a) byfirst checking the channel for interference (e.g., LBT) and thentransmitting data if the channel was determined to be clear. Similarly,if Operator C wanted to access resources on an opportunistic basisduring sub-interval 320 (e.g., use an O-INT represented by resources340-b) in response to an indication that Operator B was not going to useits G-INT, Operator C may perform a medium sensing procedure and accessthe resources if available. In some cases, two operators (e.g., OperatorA and Operator C) may attempt to access the same resources, in whichcase the operators may employ contention-based procedures to avoidinterfering communications. The operators may also have sub-prioritiesassigned to them designed to determine which operator may gain access toresources if more than operator is attempting access simultaneously.

In some examples, a network operating entity may intend not to use aparticular G-INT assigned to it, but may not send out an activityindication that conveys the intent not to use the resources. In suchcases, for a particular sub-interval 320, lower priority operatingentities may be configured to monitor the channel to determine whether ahigher priority operating entity is using the resources. If a lowerpriority operating entity determines through LBT or similar method thata higher priority operating entity is not going to use its G-INTresources, then the lower priority operating entities may attempt toaccess the resources on an opportunistic basis as described above.

In some examples, access to a G-INT or O-INT may be preceded by areservation signal (e.g., request-to-send (RTS)/clear-to-send (CTS)),and the contention window (CW) may be randomly chosen between one andthe total number of operating entities.

In some examples, an operating entity may employ or be compatible withcoordinated multipoint (CoMP) communications. For example an operatingentity may employ CoMP and dynamic time division duplex (TDD) in a G-INTand opportunistic CoMP in an O-INT as needed.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 3 , each sub-interval 320 includes aG-INT for one of Operator A, B, or C. However, in some cases, one ormore sub-intervals 320 may include resources that are neither reservedfor exclusive use nor reserved for prioritized use (e.g., unassignedresources). Such unassigned resources may be considered an O-INT for anynetwork operating entity, and may be accessed on an opportunistic basisas described above.

In some examples, each subframe 325 may contain 14 symbols (e.g., 250-μsfor 60 kHz tone spacing). These subframes 325 may be standalone,self-contained Interval-Cs (ITCs) or the subframes 325 may be a part ofa long ITC. An ITC may be a self-contained transmission starting with adownlink transmission and ending with a uplink transmission. In someembodiments, an ITC may contain one or more subframes 325 operatingcontiguously upon medium occupation. In some cases, there may be amaximum of eight network operators in an A-INT 310 (e.g., with durationof 2 ms) assuming a 250-μs transmission opportunity.

Although three operators are illustrated in FIG. 3 , it should beunderstood that fewer or more network operating entities may beconfigured to operate in a coordinated manner as described above. Insome cases, the location of the G-INT, O-INT, or A-INT within superframe305 for each operator is determined autonomously based on the number ofnetwork operating entities active in a system. For example, if there isonly one network operating entity, each sub-interval 320 may be occupiedby a G-INT for that single network operating entity, or thesub-intervals 320 may alternate between G-INTs for that networkoperating entity and O-INTs to allow other network operating entities toenter. If there are two network operating entities, the sub-intervals320 may alternate between G-INTs for the first network operating entityand G-INTs for the second network operating entity. If there are threenetwork operating entities, the G-INT and O-INTs for each networkoperating entity may be designed as illustrated in FIG. 3 . If there arefour network operating entities, the first four sub-intervals 320 mayinclude consecutive G-INTs for the four network operating entities andthe remaining two sub-intervals 320 may contain O-INTs. Similarly, ifthere are five network operating entities, the first five sub-intervals320 may contain consecutive G-INTs for the five network operatingentities and the remaining sub-interval 320 may contain an O-INT. Ifthere are six network operating entities, all six sub-intervals 320 mayinclude consecutive G-INTs for each network operating entity. It shouldbe understood that these examples are for illustrative purposes only andthat other autonomously determined interval allocations may be used.

It should be understood that the coordination framework described withreference to FIG. 3 is for illustration purposes only. For example, theduration of superframe 305 may be more or less than 20 ms. Also, thenumber, duration, and location of sub-intervals 320 and subframes 325may differ from the configuration illustrated. Also, the types ofresource designations (e.g., exclusive, prioritized, unassigned) maydiffer or include more or less sub-designations.

Uplink (UL) mini-slot in NR operations may involve scheduling a shortpreemptive duration for a UE that has preemptive communications to make.The UE having the preemptive communications may be referred to herein asa UE2, while the UE performing the on-going communications that arepreempted may be referred to as a UE1. Preemptive communications mayinclude a variety of different communications that have been given ahigher priority than the on-going communications of another UE. Forexample, the preemptive communications may include ultra-reliablelow-latency communications (URLLC), communications from a higherpriority UE, and the like. The UE1 may be participating inlower-priority communications, including enhanced mobile broadband(eMBB) communications, or communications from a UE that has a lowerpriority than the UE2.

Also applicable to URLLC may be to allow high-priority data of UE2 inthe middle of UE1 transmissions. The scheduling of the URLLCdata/preemption may be performed through an anchor carrier in anenhanced license assisted access (eLAA) deployment with transmissions inan unlicensed carriers may be in addition to parallel transmissions inthe licensed carrier. However, when considering NR shared spectrum(NR-SS) operations, the UE2 will perform an LBT procedure before it cantransmit on the shared communication channel. Because it is attemptingto transmit within the current communications of UE1, UE2 would detectthe UE1 signal and, thus, not transmit because of a failed LBT.Similarly, for UE1, when it transmits after the scheduled communicationgap for the preemptive UE2 communications, UE1 will also perform LBT onthe shared channel. If there is no gap between the UE2 transmissions andthe UE1 resuming transmission, the UE1 would detect the UE2 signal andalso not transmit because of a failed LBT. Various aspect of the presentdisclosure are directed to an LBT gap being indicated through apreemption indicator (PI) communicated by the serving base station.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed toimplement one aspect of the present disclosure. The example blocks willalso be described with respect to UE 115 as illustrated in FIG. 12 .FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating UE 115 configured according toone aspect of the present disclosure. UE 115 includes the structure,hardware, and components as illustrated for UE 115 of FIG. 2 . Forexample, UE 115 includes controller/processor 280, which operates toexecute logic or computer instructions stored in memory 282, as well ascontrolling the components of UE 115 that provide the features andfunctionality of UE 115. UE 115, under control of controller/processor280, transmits and receives signals via wireless radios 1200 a-r andantennas 252 a-r. Wireless radios 1200 a-r includes various componentsand hardware, as illustrated in FIG. 2 for UE 115, includingmodulator/demodulators 254 a-r, MIMO detector 256, receive processor258, transmit processor 264, and TX MIMO processor 266.

At block 400, a UE1 receives an indicator identifying a communicationgap preempting a current communication between the UE1 and a servingbase station. For example, a UE, such as UE 115, may receive a PI fromthe serving base station that identifies a communication gap within thecurrent communications of UE 115. PI is received from the serving basestation via antennas 252 a-r and wireless radios 1200 a-r and stored,under control of controller/processor 280, in memory 282 at PIinformation 1201. For purposes of the example aspect illustrated in FIG.4 , UE 115 may operate as an eMBB UE.

At block 401, the UE1 identifies a beginning, an end, and a length ofthe communication gap. The information contained within PI information1201 allows UE 115, under control of controller/processor 280, todetermine which slots, symbols, or interlaces to puncture to accommodatea preemptive communication from a neighboring node, which may be anothereMBB UE, a neighboring priority UE, such as a URLLC UE, a base station,or the like. In FDM operations the communication gap may be defined byidentified frequency, which may be one or more bandwidth parts (BWP) orfrequency interlaces. The information contained within PI information1201 may define the exact resources for UE 115 to puncture or mayprovide information on the resources that the preemptive communicationwill use which allows UE 115 to determine the resources that it willpuncture to provide the communication gap. In example implementations,the gap would be sufficient to allow the intervening node to perform anLBT before transmitting.

At block 402, the UE1 punctures the current communication at thebeginning of the communication gap. With the details of thecommunication gap determined by UE 115, UE 115, under control ofcontroller/processor 280, executes transmit puncturing 1202, in memory282. The execution environment of transmit puncturing 1202 provides forUE 115 to stop scheduled transmissions to create a communication gap forintervening preemptive communications. UE 115, within the executionenvironment of transmit puncturing 1202 punctures its currentcommunications to exit the shared medium and allow the preemptive nodeto transmit.

At block 403, the UE1 resumes the current communication after the lengthof the communication gap. Once the time for the communication gap haspassed, UE 115 may resume the current communications. For example, UE115 may resume eMBB communications via wireless radios 1200 a-r andantennas 252 a-r. Various example aspects may provide for UE 115 toperform an LBT procedure prior to resuming communications on the sharedchannel. In such aspect, UE 115 would, under control ofcontroller/processor 280, execute LBT logic 1205. The executionenvironment of LBT logic 1205 allows UE 115 to perform LBT of a givenshared communication channel.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are block diagrams illustrating base station 105 and UE1and UE2, configured according to aspects of the present disclosure.According to the various aspects of the present disclosure, LBT gaps maybe introduced both before and after the preemptive communications wheretime division multiplex (TDM) operations are conducted (FIG. 5A), or onthe beginning side of the preemptive communication if there are no UEsthat are purely in TDM operations 50 and in frequency division multiplex(FDM) operations 51 (FIG. 5B). For URLLC, the NR preemption indicator(PI) can be used to indicate the number of UE1 symbol holes to bepunctured for the UE2 URLLC transmission. In TDM operations 50, UE1receives the PI from base station 105, which identifies to UE1 topuncture communication gap resources 502 during current communications500. UE1 symbol holes are punctured in communication gap resources 502for the duration of the UE2 transmission 503 plus an extra number ofsymbols for a guard period (GP), which can be a partial symbol. UE1would resume current communications 504 after the second GP.

In FDM operations 51, UE1 receives the PI from base station 105 todetermine the communication gap resources 506. FDM operations 51 wouldonly use a single or partial punctured symbol at the beginning ofcommunication gap resources 506 for UE2 to perform LBT. Upon successfulLBT, UE2 would perform preemptive communications 507 covering thefrequency identified in the FDM grant from base station 105. UE1 maycontinue current communications 508 in different frequencies duringpreemptive communications 507 and then over the allocated frequenciesafter preemptive communications 507.

It should be noted that the definition of preempted resources in NR maybe modified to allow for such LBT gaps. For example, NR may only allowpreemption sizes of 2/7 symbols that may be the supported slot sizes formini-slots/URLLC. However, for NR-SS the supported preemption sizes maybe changed in order to accommodate the LBT gaps.

In NR, the PI generally indicates the resources that the eMBB UE (UE1)will puncture for the communication gap. The PI indication in NR has twoformats: (1) a 14 bit bitmap for the time domain symbols to puncture;and (2) a 7×2 bit bitmap for sets of OFDM symbols in time×2 forpuncturing in the frequency domain (bandwidth part). Note that in bothformats, each bit of the bitmap corresponds to a group of OFDM symbols.

It should be noted that for NR-SS operations, the frequency domainresource indication may be changed to a set of interlaces, instead ofbandwidth parts, as allocation will likely be done in units ofinterlaces.

The information contained within the PI may be configured in multipleformats. In a first optional aspect, the PI indicates the resources thatthe eMBB UE (UE1) will puncture for the communication gap. The servingbase station may consider all the gaps needed for the preemptivetransmission and capture those gap resource in the bitmap of the PI.When the SCS configuration is different for the eMBB UE (UE1) and theURLLC UE (UE2), the number of symbols may not perfectly align. Becauseeach bit corresponds to a group of symbols, even though only one groupof symbols may be allocated for the preemptive communication, the PIwill create an LBT gap by blanking/puncturing the entire group ofsymbols prior to and after the symbol group(s) used for the preemptivetransmission.

In a second optional aspect, the PI may indicate the resources (e.g.,SCS and/or time frequency resources) to be used by the URLLC UEs (UE2).In such aspects, the eMBB UE (UE1) uses its own SCS and the LBTrequirement to determine how much additional time/frequency resourcesshould be punctured to create the applicable communication gap. Forexample, in a scenario where 2 symbols should be punctured for thepreemptive communication with SCS of 15 KHz, and for an eMBB UE (UE1)having an SCS of 15 KHz, there are 14 uplink symbols in 1 ms. Therefore,the communication gap should be 4 symbols (2 URLLC symbols+2 gapsymbols). If the UE1 has an SCS of 30 KHz, there are 28 uplink symbolsin 1 ms, which would mean that 6 symbols should be punctured for thecommunication gap. It should be noted that the SCS is the inverse ofsymbol length. Thus, as the SCS becomes larger, the symbol lengthbecomes inversely shorter, and vice versa. In such an example scenario,each URLLC symbol having an SCS of 15 KHz would span 2 symbols of theUE1 having an SCS of 30 KHz. Two symbols of gap before and after thepreemptive communication may be used for LBT procedure. One symbol with30 KHz SCS may also be sufficient for an LBT gap.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed toimplement one aspect of the present disclosure. When the UE2 (URLLC UE)monitors for URLLC data, it should receive the data regardless of howthe transmission switch occurs. In the illustrated aspect, the UE2 mayattempt multiple hypotheses for each OFDM symbol boundary. The exampleblocks will also be described with respect to UE 115 as illustrated inFIG. 12 . At block 600, a UE2 receives a preemptive grant for preemptivedownlink communications with a serving base station during currentcommunications on a shared communication network. For example, apriority UE, such as UE 115, may receive a downlink grant via antennas252 a-r and wireless radios 1200 a-r identifying the preemptivecommunication during the communications of a neighboring non-priorityUE. For purposes of the example illustrated in FIG. 6 , UE 115 operatesas a priority UE, such as a URLLC UE.

At block 601 a, the UE2 attempts to decode detected signals at eachsymbol boundary according to a plurality of decoding hypotheses. Becausethe communication channel is shared, there is no guarantee that theserving base station will secure the channel. In order to receive thepreemptive downlink communication, UE 115 will attempt multiplehypotheses at each OFDM symbol boundary. UE 115, under control ofcontroller/processor 280 accesses the multiple hypotheses at decodingprocesses 1204, stored in memory 282. The hypotheses are then used bydecoders within wireless radios 1200 a-r to attempt to decode thereceived signals. Block 601 a is a first alternative block that may beexecuted in various aspects of the present disclosure.

In alternative to block 601 a, at block 601 b, the UE2 identifies, fromthe preemptive grant, a sub-symbol offset to decode detected signals.Where the example aspect includes sub-symbol operations, UE 115 maydetect the sub-symbol offset, which may be included in preemptive grant1203, stored in memory 282. UE 115 would use the sub-symbol offset todecode signals detected and received from antennas 252 a-r and 1200 a-r.

At block 602, the UE2 receives the preemptive downlink communications inresponse to successfully decoding the detected signals. UE 115 receivesthe preemptive downlink communications via antennas 252 a-r and wirelessradios 1200 a-r. If downlink transmissions are made, UE 115 maysuccessfully decode the transmissions using one of the hypotheses fromdecoding processes 1204 in decoders located within wireless radios 1200a-r.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are block diagrams illustrating base station 105 and UE1and UE2 configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure.Additional aspects of the present disclosure provide for sub-symboloffsets for OFDM symbols that provide LBT gaps having sub-symbol shifts.In order to reduce the overhead, sub-symbol gaps and provided instead offull symbol gaps. FIG. 7A illustrates TDM operations 70, in whichsub-symbol gaps are provided on both sides of the preemptivecommunications from UE2. UE1 receives an indicator from the serving basestation (e.g., PI) that identifies communication gap 701. According tothe present aspect, the base station assigns a sub-symbol offset topreemptive communications 702 by UE2. The sub-symbol offset shifts thepreemptive transmission resources off of the symbol boundary. Thus, asUE1 performs current communication 700, it punctures three symbols forcommunication gap 701 to accommodate the sub-symbol shifted preemptivecommunications 702. The resulting gaps before and after preemptivecommunications 702 are less than a full symbol in length, whichconserves resources over a full-symbol gap. UE1 may resume currentcommunications 703 after the second gap, which may occur with or withoutan LBT, depending on the configuration and characteristics, such as thelength of communication gap 701 or the length of the second gap.

FIG. 7B illustrates FDM operations 71, in which a sub-symbol gap isdefined at the beginning of communication gap 705 prior to preemptivecommunication 706 of UE2. UE1 receives the PI from base station 105indicating the parameters for communication gap 705. UE1 punctures thecurrent communications creating a sub-symbol gap without communicationsfor UE2 to perform LBT prior to preemptive transmission 706. UE1 maythen transmit dummy transmission 707 in the sub-symbol after UE2completes preemptive transmission 706. In the sub-symbol offset designsillustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B, UE2 transmission symbols are not symbolaligned with the original frame structure of current communications 704of UE1. However, it reduces the amount of wasted resources for gaps inthe pure TDM case (FIG. 7A). After dummy transmission 707, UE1 mayresume current communications 708.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are block diagrams illustrating base station 105 and UE1and UE2 configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure.The sub-carrier spacing (SCS) of the two different UEs (UE1 and UE2) maybe different. FIG. 8A illustrates a shared communication channel 80 inwhich UE2 is configured with a larger SCS than UE1 and the OFDM symbolsof the preemptive communications of UE2 are aligned with the symbols ofthe current communications of UE1. Accordingly, the symbol size of UE1transmissions (UE symbol x, symbol x+1, x+5) are larger than the symbolsize of UE2 transmissions (UE2 1-4).

FIG. 8B illustrates a shared communication channel 81, where thepreemptive communications are at a sub-symbol offset. As indicatedabove, the different SCS configurations allow a shorter symbol lengthfor the UE2 communications. However, by using the sub-symbol offset, UE2is able to complete more transmission symbols (UE2 1-5) of URLLC uplinkdata over the same communication gap size (communication gap 801) as thefull symbol gap (communication gap 800) illustrated in FIG. 8A.

For uplink mini-slots, the downlink control information (DCI) mayschedule the time domain resources for the UE2 preemptive communicationin the middle of current communications of the UE1. The sub-symbol levelresource control may be any portion of the full symbol length. The TDMresource allocation in the DCI can also indicate the sub-symbol levelresource allocation for the UE2 preemptive communication. For large SCSthe symbol duration becomes smaller and, hence, the benefits for thesub-symbol offset option may be reduced.

It should be noted that when the UE2 preemptive communication is basedon autonomous uplink (AUL) operations, the AUL radio resource control(RRCj) configuration/activation/information may be determined from thePI, which may be used to determine the offset for the symbol boundaries.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed toimplement one aspect of the present disclosure. The example blocks willalso be described with respect to UE 115 as illustrated in FIG. 12 . Atblock 900, a UE2 receives a preemptive grant for preemptivecommunications with a serving base station during current communicationson a shared communication network, wherein the preemptive grantidentifies a sub-symbol offset for the preemptive communications. Whenpreemptive communications are available (e.g., uplink/downlink) UE 115may receive a communications grant for the preemptive communicationsfrom the serving base station via antennas 252 a-r and wireless radios1200 a-r. For purposes of the example aspect illustrated in FIG. 9 , UE115 may operate as the priority UE (e.g., UE2).

At block 901, the UE2 determines whether to perform an LBT procedure onthe shared communication channel. UE 115 executes, under control ofcontroller/processor 280, LBT logic 1205, stored in memory 282. Withinthe execution environment of LBT logic 1205, UE 115 may determinewhether to perform LBT prior to transmissions. LBT for the preemptivecommunications may or may not be performed, depending on theconfiguration of the network operations as well as certaincharacteristics existing for the communication opportunity. For example,in certain aspects, UE 115 may always perform LBT during the first gapprior to the preemptive transmission. Additional aspects may provide forno LBT when certain conditions are satisfied. For example, no LBT may benecessary if the preemptive transmission may occur during thetransmission opportunity of the serving base station. Because the basestation has reserved the shared channel for a certain standard period,if the preemptive transmissions were to occur during that transmissionopportunity, there would be no need to perform LBT. Additionally,whether or not an LBT should be performed may be determined based on thesize of the gap between the start of the punctured resources ofcommunication gap and the beginning of the preemptive communications. Agap exceeding a predetermined threshold may trigger UE 115 to performLBT, while the gap being within the predetermined threshold would allowUE 115 to perform the preemptive transmission without LBT. A furtheraspect provides for the serving base station to signal whether or notLBT should be performed by UE 115.

At block 902, the UE2 participates in the preemptive communicationsaccording to the preemptive grant. Once the LBT has either beensuccessfully performed or the determination made that no LBT is needed,as provided within the execution environment of LBT logic 1205, UE 115may participate in the preemptive communication as configured in thegrant via wireless radios 1200 a-r and antennas 252 a-r.

As the communication gap and preemptive communications may be configuredwith sub-symbol resources, the participating network nodes may usemini-symbols to communicate according to various aspect of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating base station 105, UE1, and UE2configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure. Accordingto the illustrated examples, mini symbols, having different SCS, may beused in order to reduce LBT gaps. Communication stream 1000 illustratesa sub-symbol offset for communication gap 1002 and provides for UE1 toreceive a dynamic change in SCS configuration in the PI. The dynamic SCSchange allows UE1 to continue transmissions 1003 prior to the sub-symbolgaps before and after the preemptive communication of UE2 using amini-symbol defined by the changed SCS. Communication stream 1001illustrates a sub-symbol offset for communication gap 1004 and providesfor both UE1 to receive the dynamic SCS change in a PI and UE2 toreceive the dynamic SCS configuration within the URLLC grant. Thedynamic change in SCS allows for UE1 to transmit 1005 in a mini-symbolprior to the first LBT gap before the preemptive transmission of UE2,and allows UE2 to transmit 1005 a mini-symbol prior to the endingsub-symbol gap where UE1 may perform LBT to resume currentcommunications.

In an additional aspect that may be illustrated by FIG. 10 , even thoughUE1 (the eMBB UE) is shown to create sub-symbol gaps, UE1 may be allowedto transmit for portion of the symbol to avoid other UEs obtainingaccess to the medium and leaving just the minimum gap to enable UE2 asuccessful LBT. UE1 will have knowledge of UE2 and its LBT operations,in order to determine the minimum gap that still allows UE2 tosuccessfully complete the LBT procedure. Similarly, although UE2 isshown to have the sub-symbol to do the measurement, its transmissionaligns to the mini-slot or URLCC symbol boundary. UE2 may perform theLBT procedure prior to the mini-slot boundary and start transmittingdummy signals to reserve access to the shared communication channel. Forexample, if UE1 does not transmit at 1005, UE2 may perform LBT and begintransmitting channel reserving signals at 1005 prior to the scheduledLBT mini-slot. Once the scheduled resource arrives, UE2 may then beginthe preemptive communication (UE2 symbol 1, symbol 2). Additionally inthe sub-symbol that UE2 leaves a gap at the end of the preemptivecommunication, UE2 may determine the minimum gap for UE to perform asuccessful LBT. UE2 transmits for more time and leaves enough gap forUE1 to do LBT successfully. As above, UE2 would have information on UE1and its LBT operations in order to determine the minimum gap for UE1LBT.

Aspects of the present disclosure may be used for various preemptivecommunications. For example, the sub-symbol start aspect may be used forchanging uplink transmissions between two UEs; switching to an uplinktransmission during downlink transmissions of other UEs; and switchingto a downlink transmission during uplink transmissions of other UEs.When URLLC downlink transmission are scheduled between ongoing downlinktransmissions of another UE, the sub-symbol gap would actually addoverhead. Therefore, because the base station has already secured themedium, there is no need to leave a gap between downlink transmissions.It should be noted that a downlink-to-downlink gap (full symbol orsub-symbol) may still be necessary when communications are using mmWavewith a directional LBT.

From perspective of UE2 monitoring URLLC downlink data, the UE2 shouldbe able to receive data independently of whether the preemptivecommunication switching to downlink happens during the uplink of otherUEs (in which case there may be a sub-symbol offset) or when it is inbetween ongoing downlink transmissions (no sub-symbol offsets). Asillustrated in FIG. 6 , UE2 may attempt multiple hypotheses for the OFDMsymbol boundary in order to receive the URLLC downlink transmission.Alternatively, UE2 may receive a signal (e.g., specific or common DCI)that identifies the subframe structure. UE2 may then know the offset atwhich it should attempt to decode and receive the data at thesymbol/sub-symbol boundary.

FIGS. 11A and 11B are block diagrams illustrating base station 105, UE1,and UE2 configured according to aspects of the present disclosure.Although the various aspect apply in the context of multiplexing a UE2uplink mini-slot communications in between other uplink transmissions,the various aspects of the present disclosure may be applicable inmultiplexing other channels of a UE or base station in betweentransmissions of other UEs such as multiplexing sounding referencesignal (SRS), acknowledgment (ACK), PUCCH, channel state informationreference signals (CSI-RS), TRS, and the like, in between back to backPUSCH of other UEs (FIG. 11A). These sub-symbol level resourceallocations can be absorbed into the time domain resource allocationfield of the DCI, or can be semi-statically signaled (e.g., RRC), orimplicitly signaled. For example, in communications over sharedcommunication channel 1100, uplink channels from UE1 may be allocatedusing sub-symbol offsets to reduce communication gaps 1104 and 1108 forthe uplink communications from UE1. Base station 105 transmits PDCCH1102, 1106, 1110 and PDSCH 1103 and 1107 using shared communicationchannel 1100. When UE1 is assigned to transmit PUCCH 1105 and 1108, asub-symbol offset is used to offset alignment of PUCCH 1105 and 1108.The sub-symbol offset conserves resources by providing communicationgaps 1104 and 1108 by base station 105 of two symbols, instead of four,in which a sub-symbol length may be available for UE1 to perform LBTprior to transmitting PUCCH 1105 and 1108. An implicit signaling mayprovide no sub-symbol offset on downlink-to-downlink communications, anda sub-symbol offset on a downlink-to-other communication.

Additional aspects of the sub-symbol offset may apply for differentdirection channels transmitted between other communications to the sameUE (FIG. 11B). For example, base station 105 transmits PI over sharedcommunication channel 1101 to UE1 during PDCCH 1111 identifying acommunication gap 1113 between current communications PUSCH 1112 and1115 for a priority UE, such as UE2, to transmit its SRS 1114. Thesub-symbol offset allows for communication gap 1113 to providesub-symbol gaps before and after SRS 1114.

As disclosed above, the LBT gaps for URLLC/uplink mini-slot introduceoverhead. Various LBT options may be configured for UE2 transmission ofmini-slot/URLLC data. For example, LBT may be always performed or notperformed in some cases. Where the entirety of the scheduled preemptivecommunication lies within the transmission opportunity secured by thebase station, the UE2 may elect not to perform an LBT procedure. UE2 maydetermine this based on the length/SCS of the URLLC data, and the gapbetween start of the URLLC data and the puncture pattern start indicatedin the PI. Additionally, the URLLC grant may also indicate whether theUE2 should perform LBT.

For the eMBB UE (UE1) leaving the pre-emption gaps, the UE1 may alwaysperform LBT before resuming communication for both FDM/TDM, may not berequired to perform LBT before resuming transmission for both FDM/TDM,may not be required to perform LBT before resuming transmission for FDM,but may perform LBT for TDM, possibly based on the duration of thepre-emption. For example, the determination of whether the UE1 performsLBT may also depend on the SCS/number of contiguous blankedsymbols/blanking time in PI. If the size of the gap exceeds apredetermined threshold, then the UE1 would perform LBT. Alternatively,the PI or other control signaling (e.g., DCI) may explicitly indicatewhether UE1 should perform LBT or not after the gaps.

The guard period used in NR-SS during uplink mini-slot or URLLCtransitions for performing LBT may be indicated to the UE2. The NR URLLCPI can be used to leave the required number of symbol holes puncturedfor FDM/TDM. Sub-symbol level scheduling can be introduced for theURLLC/mini-slot UE (UE2) to reduce the LBT gap overhead. This can beused for the UE2 (Mini-slot/URLLC UE). The sub-symbol scheduling for UE2can be part of the DCI time domain resource scheduling. This can also beachieved by increasing the SCS for UE2 and scheduling starting oddsymbol. The sub-symbol level scheduling of the various aspects can alsobe used in NR-SS for other channels like PUCCH, SRS, ACK, etc. Thissub-symbol level scheduling helps to reduce the LBT gap overhead andincrease the chances of acquiring the channel. The LBT gaps for URLLCtransmission/eMBB UE resuming transmission may be based on the length ofblanking time/indicated in DCI etc. Combination of the solutions are ofcourse allowed as well.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

The functional blocks and modules in FIGS. 4, 6, and 9 may compriseprocessors, electronics devices, hardware devices, electronicscomponents, logical circuits, memories, software codes, firmware codes,etc., or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronichardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearlyillustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, variousillustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have beendescribed above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether suchfunctionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon theparticular application and design constraints imposed on the overallsystem. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality invarying ways for each particular application, but such implementationdecisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from thescope of the present disclosure. Skilled artisans will also readilyrecognize that the order or combination of components, methods, orinteractions that are described herein are merely examples and that thecomponents, methods, or interactions of the various aspects of thepresent disclosure may be combined or performed in ways other than thoseillustrated and described herein.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performedwith a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Ageneral-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with thedisclosure herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a softwaremodule executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. Asoftware module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory,EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, aCD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Anexemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, theprocessor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in auser terminal.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another.Computer-readable storage media may be any available media that can beaccessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can compriseRAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that canbe used to carry or store desired program code means in the form ofinstructions or data structures and that can be accessed by ageneral-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose orspecial-purpose processor. Also, a connection may be properly termed acomputer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmittedfrom a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable,fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or digital subscriber line (DSL), thenthe coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or DSL, are includedin the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includescompact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc(DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce datamagnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

As used herein, including in the claims, the term “and/or,” when used ina list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items canbe employed by itself, or any combination of two or more of the listeditems can be employed. For example, if a composition is described ascontaining components A, B, and/or C, the composition can contain Aalone; B alone; C alone; A and B in combination; A and C in combination;B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination. Also, as usedherein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of itemsprefaced by “at least one of” indicates a disjunctive list such that,for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C” means A or B or C orAB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) or any of these in anycombination thereof.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable anyperson skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Variousmodifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may beapplied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scopeof the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited tothe examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded thewidest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:receiving, by a user equipment (UE), a preemptive grant for preemptivecommunications with a serving base station during current communicationson a shared communication channel, wherein the preemptive grant includesat least: a sub-symbol offset for a beginning of the preemptivecommunications; and a length of the preemptive communications;identifying, by the UE, within the preemptive grant, a dynamicsub-carrier spacing (SCS) change for the UE resulting in use of one ormore mini-symbols contiguous to one or both of an initial boundaryresource or an ending boundary resource of the preemptivecommunications; determining, by the UE, whether to perform a listenbefore talk (LBT) procedure on the shared communication channel; andparticipating, by the UE, in the preemptive communications according tothe preemptive grant; and returning, by the UE to a standard SCS forremaining communication resources granted for the preemptivecommunications.
 2. The method of claim 1, further including:calculating, by the UE, a minimum gap for an LBT procedure of aneighboring node associated with the current communications, wherein theending boundary resource is determined to leave the minimum gap for theneighboring node.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the preemptivecommunication includes one of: uplink transmissions from the UE whilethe current communications include uplink transmissions from aneighboring UE; uplink transmissions from the UE while the currentcommunications include downlink transmissions to the neighboring UE; ordownlink transmission to the UE while the current communications includeuplink transmissions from the neighboring UE.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the preemptive communications include one or more first signalshaving a first set of characteristics, and wherein the currentcommunications include one or more second signals having a second set ofcharacteristics.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first and secondsets of characteristics includes one or more of: uplink datatransmission; downlink data transmission; uplink control transmission;or downlink control transmission, and wherein the current communicationsincludes one of: a different characteristic from the preemptivecommunications between the UE and the serving base station; or between aneighboring UE and the serving base station.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the determining whether to perform the LBT procedure includesone of: determining not to perform the LBT procedure when the preemptivecommunications lie completely within a transmission opportunity of theserving base station; determining to perform the LBT procedure when acommunication gap between a start of puncturing of the currentcommunications and beginning of the preemptive communications exceeds apredetermined threshold; or determining not to perform the LBT procedurewhen the communication gap is within the predetermined threshold.
 7. Amethod of wireless communication, comprising: receiving, by a userequipment (UE), a preemptive grant for preemptive communications with aserving base station during current communications on a sharedcommunication channel, wherein the preemptive grant includes at least: asub-symbol offset for a beginning of the preemptive communications; anda length of the preemptive communications; determining, by the UE, toperform a listen before talk (LBT) procedure on the shared communicationchannel; performing the LBT procedure prior to the sub-symbol offset;and transmitting channel reserving signals on the shared communicationchannel in response to detecting a successful LBT procedure prior to thesub-symbol offset; and participating, by the UE, in the preemptivecommunications according to the preemptive grant.
 8. An apparatus forwireless communication, the apparatus comprising: at least oneprocessor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, whereinthe at least one processor is configured to: receive, by a userequipment (UE), a preemptive grant for preemptive communications with aserving base station during current communications on a sharedcommunication channel, wherein the preemptive grant includes at least: asub-symbol offset for a beginning of the preemptive communications; anda length of the preemptive communications; identify, by the UE, withinthe preemptive grant, a dynamic sub-carrier spacing (SCS) change for theUE resulting in use of one or more mini-symbols contiguous to one orboth of an initial boundary resource or an ending boundary resource ofthe preemptive communications: determine, by the UE, whether to performa listen before talk (LBT) procedure on the shared communicationchannel; participate, by the UE, in the preemptive communicationsaccording to the preemptive grant; and return, by the UE, to a standardSCS for remaining communication resources granted for the preemptivecommunications.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to calculate, by the UE, a minimum gapfor an LBT procedure of a neighboring node associated with the currentcommunications, wherein the ending boundary resource is determined toleave the minimum gap for the neighboring node.
 10. The apparatus ofclaim 8, wherein the preemptive communication includes one of: uplinktransmissions from the UE while the current communications includeuplink transmissions from a neighboring UE; uplink transmissions fromthe UE while the current communications include downlink transmissionsto the neighboring UE; or downlink transmission to the UE while thecurrent communications include uplink transmissions from the neighboringUE.
 11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein: the preemptive communicationsinclude one or more first signals having a first set of characteristics,and the current communications include one or more second signals havinga second set of characteristics.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, whereinthe first and second sets of characteristics includes one or more of:uplink data transmission; downlink data transmission; uplink controltransmission; or downlink control transmission, and wherein the currentcommunications includes one of: a different characteristic from thepreemptive communications between the UE and the serving base station;or between a neighboring UE and the serving base station.
 13. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor configured todetermine whether to perform the LBT procedure is configured todetermine one of: determine not to perform the LBT procedure when thepreemptive communications lie completely within a transmissionopportunity of the serving base station; determine to perform the LBTprocedure when a communication gap between a start of puncturing of thecurrent communications and beginning of the preemptive communicationsexceeds a predetermined threshold; or determine not to perform the LBTprocedure when the communication gap is within the predeterminedthreshold.
 14. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatuscomprising: at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at leastone processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:receive, by a user equipment (UE), a preemptive grant for preemptivecommunications with a serving base station during current communicationson a shared communication channel, wherein the preemptive grant includesat least: a sub-symbol offset for a beginning of the preemptivecommunications; and a length of the preemptive communications:determine, by the UE, to perform a listen before talk (LBT) procedure onthe shared communication channel; perform the LBT procedure prior to thesub-symbol offset; transmit channel reserving signals on the sharedcommunication channel in response to detecting a successful LBTprocedure prior to the sub-symbol offset; and participate, by the UE, inthe preemptive communications according to the preemptive grant.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions recordedthereon that, when enacted by one or more computer processors, cause theone or more computer processors to: receive, by a user equipment (UE), apreemptive grant for preemptive communications with a serving basestation during current communications on a shared communication channel,wherein the preemptive grant includes at least: a sub-symbol offset fora beginning of the preemptive communications; and a length of thepreemptive communications; identify, by the UE, within the preemptivegrant, a dynamic sub-carrier spacing (SCS) change for the UE resultingin use of one or more mini-symbols contiguous to one or both of aninitial boundary resource or an ending boundary resource of thepreemptive communications; determine, by the UE, whether to perform alisten before talk (LBT) procedure on the shared communication channel;and participate, by the UE, in the preemptive communications accordingto the preemptive grant; and return, by the UE, to a standard SCS forremaining communication resources granted for the preemptivecommunications.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim15 further comprising instructions recorded thereon that, when enactedby one or more computer processors, cause the one or more computerprocessors to: calculate, by the UE, a minimum gap for an LBT procedureof a neighboring node associated with the current communications,wherein the ending boundary resource is determined to leave the minimumgap for the neighboring node.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 15, wherein the preemptive communication includes oneof: uplink transmissions from the UE while the current communicationsinclude uplink transmissions from a neighboring UE; uplink transmissionsfrom the UE while the current communications include downlinktransmissions to the neighboring UE; or downlink transmission to the UEwhile the current communications include uplink transmissions from theneighboring UE.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim15, wherein: the preemptive communications include one or more firstsignals having a first set of characteristics, and the currentcommunications include one or more second signals having a second set ofcharacteristics.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 18, wherein the first and second sets of characteristics includesone or more of: uplink data transmission; downlink data transmission;uplink control transmission; or downlink control transmission, andwherein the current communications includes one of: a differentcharacteristic from the preemptive communications between the UE and theserving base station; or between a neighboring UE and the serving basestation.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,wherein the instructions recorded thereon that, when enacted by one ormore computer processors, cause the one or more computer processors toperform the LBT procedure comprise instructions that, when enacted byone or more computer processors, cause the one or more computerprocessors to one of: determine not to perform the LBT procedure whenthe preemptive communications lie completely within a transmissionopportunity of the serving base station; determine to perform the LBTprocedure when a communication gap between a start of puncturing of thecurrent communications and beginning of the preemptive communicationsexceeds a predetermined threshold; or determine not to perform the LBTprocedure when the communication gap is within the predeterminedthreshold.
 21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium havinginstructions recorded thereon that, when enacted by one or more computerprocessors, cause the one or more computer processors to: receive, by auser equipment (UE), a preemptive grant for preemptive communicationswith a serving base station during current communications on a sharedcommunication channel, wherein the preemptive grant includes at least: asub-symbol offset for a beginning of the preemptive communications; anda length of the preemptive communications; determine, by the UE, toperform a listen before talk (LBT) procedure on the shared communicationchannel; perform the LBT procedure prior to the sub-symbol offset;transmit channel reserving signals on the shared communication channelin response to detecting a successful LBT procedure prior to thesub-symbol offset; and participate, by the UE, in the preemptivecommunications according to the preemptive grant.
 22. An apparatus forwireless communication, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving,by a user equipment (UE), a preemptive grant for preemptivecommunications with a serving base station during current communicationson a shared communication channel, wherein the preemptive grant includesat least: a sub-symbol offset for a beginning of the preemptivecommunications; and a length of the preemptive communications; means foridentifying, by the UE, within the preemptive grant, a dynamicsub-carrier spacing (SCS) change for the UE resulting in use of one ormore mini-symbols contiguous to one or both of an initial boundaryresource or an ending boundary resource of the preemptivecommunications; means for determining, by the UE, whether to perform alisten before talk (LBT) procedure on the shared communication channel;and means for participating, by the UE, in the preemptive communicationsaccording to the preemptive grant; and means for returning, by the UE toa standard SCS for remaining communication resources granted for thepreemptive communications.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22, furtherincluding: means for calculating, by the UE, a minimum gap for an LBTprocedure of a neighboring node associated with the currentcommunications, wherein the ending boundary resource is determined toleave the minimum gap for the neighboring node.
 24. The apparatus ofclaim 22, wherein the preemptive communication includes one of: uplinktransmissions from the UE while the current communications includeuplink transmissions from a neighboring UE; uplink transmissions fromthe UE while the current communications include downlink transmissionsto the neighboring UE; or downlink transmission to the UE while thecurrent communications include uplink transmissions from the neighboringUE.
 25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the preemptive communicationsinclude one or more first signals having a first set of characteristics,and wherein the current communications include one or more secondsignals having a second set of characteristics.
 26. The apparatus ofclaim 25, wherein the first and second sets of characteristics includesone or more of: uplink data transmission; downlink data transmission;uplink control transmission; or downlink control transmission, andwherein the current communications includes one of: a differentcharacteristic from the preemptive communications between the UE and theserving base station; or between a neighboring UE and the serving basestation.